Electrical outlet construction



March 9, 1948. R. E. WILSON ELECTRICAL OUTLET CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 8, 1945 W w W J Patented Mar. 9, 1948 UNITED STAES PATENT EEC 6 Claims. 1

My invention relates to a novel continuous electrical outlet construction and has for its object the provision of such a construction which is economical to manufacture, easy to assemble, and is quick and f-oohproof to operate.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a continuous outlet strip which has great utility and may be as readily adapted for Christ mas tree lights and the like, as to the wiring of a room,

The above and still further objects of my in vention will become apparent from the following specification, attached drawings, and appended claims.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the terminal head turned to a power take-off position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detailed view;

Fig. '7 is a side elevational view showing a modified form of contact finger;

Fig. 8 is a bottom elevational view of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a modified form of outlet strip, some parts being shown by dotted lines.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral l indicates a flexible resilient insulating strip, preferably made of natural or synthetic rubber. Strip as shown, is preferably substantially rectangular in form so as to have parallel upper and lower faces 2 and 3, respectively, as Well as substantially parallel sides. Within strip I are a pair of longitudinally extending laterally spaced parallel passages 4. Self-closing slits 5 extend inwardly from the opposite side edges of strip I, each to an adjacent passage 4. Longitudinally extending electrical conductors, in the form of flexible wires or cables 6, are snugly fit into passages 4.

Adapted to cooperate with the above described novel conduit is a contact or terminal head i which may be molded from rubber, Bakelite, or other suitable insulating materials. Head 7, as shown, is preferably of a circular form around its center as indicated at 8, has a tapering top 9, and a pair of depending legs iii which are spaced apart at i i so as to provide a passage into which strip i is adapted to snugly fit. As will be observed, passage H flares outwardly in opposite directions from its intermediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head 7 on strip i. It will also be observed that because of the outwardly flaring shape of the passages ii that the legs Iii, which straddle the strip i, are segmental in cross-sectional shape, their closest points indicated by the numeral iii being spaced apart only a slightly greater distance than the width of the strip 1.

The upper surface of passage i i is preferably fiat, as indicated at l2, so to lie flush with the flat upper surface 2 of strip 1 and thus prevent rocking oi the head i it is rotated thereon, A conventional electrical conduit is having therein a pair of spaced electrical conducting wires or the like 34 enters the opening it"; in the tapering top 9 of head '5. Within a cavity is the head l the conductor wires i l terminate in contact with a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending terminal arms H which are rigidly secured to head I in any desired manner. Terminal arms ll extend downwardly beyond the fiat upper surface i2 and into the sage I l distance only equal to approximately half the thickness of strip 5, where the bottom ends 58, shown as preferably being bifurcated so as to provide a pair of laterally spaced contact fingers l9 and are bent at approximately right angles. As will be observed by reference particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, terminal arms i? are so situated with respect to the depending legs It, which straddle strip i, that the contact fingers l9 and Ed extend laterally inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of passage 5 l and are to enter opposite slits 5 of strip l under rotation of the head i in one direction, and make contact with the electrical conductors 5 in passages As shown in Figs. 2,3 and 6, the contact fingers it and 2d are sli htly staggered so that as they enter the slits 5 and make contact with the electrical conductors a, one will frictionally over-ride the same, and the other will be inclined to frictionally under-ride the conductor 5.

In Figs. '7 and 8, I have shown a structure si1nilar in all respects to those above described but having only a single contact finger 2! having a knifedike tapering frontal edge A shown particularly Fig. l, the spaced legs are provided at their bases with feet which project laterally at approximately right angles in the same direction as contact fingers l9 and 33. Furthermore, feet 23 are so spaced vertically with respect to upper surface l2 of passage H and contact fingers l9 and 20, that when head I is rotated in a direction to force contact fingers l9 and 2!) into slits and into contact with conductors 6, the said feet 23 will frictionally engage the bottom side 3 of strip l and tend to hold the head 1 in a locked position on strip I. As shown particularly in Figs, 2 and 3, the toes 24 of feet 23 are preferably provided with raised portions 24, which when made to pass over the conduit containing portions of strip I, tend to lodge in the center of the strip and provide an even more satisfactory means of locking the plug against accidental removal.

The structure shown in Fig. 9 is identical in all respects to that shown in Figs. l-tc 5 except that the under surface 3' is provided with a depending continuous, centrally located rib 25, from the bottom of which a base flange 25 projects laterally, thereby forming opposed channels 21. In this construction, which is particularly adapted to be nailed onto a floor or the like by means of small nails 28, the toes 24 of feet ZB-are adapted to come to rest within the opposite channels 2? when the contact fingers l 8 and 2!! are in engagement with the conductors 6'.

While-I have described above the preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be obvious that the invention is subject to modifications without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. .An electrical outlet construction comprising laterally spaced electrical conductors disposed within a substantially rectangular insulating member, the opposite sides of said insulating member being provided with self-closing slits which project inwardly each to an adjacent one of said conductors, a terminal head having a passage therethrough to receive the insulating member, said passage flaring outwardly in opposite directions from its intermediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head on the insulating member, contact fingers carried by the head and extending inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to enter opposite slits in the insulating member under rotation of the terminal head in one direction, and feet carried by the head and extending inwardly from the opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to frictionally grip the lower face of said insulating member when the contact fingers are forced to enter the opposite slits of the insulating member under rotation of the terminal head.

2. A continuous electrical outlet construction comprising a strip of flexible insulating material, longitudinally extending laterally spaced parallel passages within .said strip, slits extending inwardly from opposite edges of said strip each to an opposite of said passages, electrical conductors in said passages, a terminal head having a passage therethrough to receive the insulating strip, said passage flaring outwardly in opposite directions from its intermediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head on the insulating strip, contact fingers carried by the head and. extending laterally inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to enter opposite slits in the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head in one direction, and feet carried by said head and extending inwardly from the opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to frictional-1y grip the under surface of the insulat- 6!. ing strip when the contact fingers are forced to enter the opposite slits of the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head.

3. A continuous electrical outlet construction comprising a strip of readily flexible resilient insulating material of generally rectangular crosssectional shape, longitudinally extending laterally spaced parallel passages within said strip, selfclosing slits extending inwardly from the side edges of said strip and communicating with an opposite of said passages, flexible electrical conductors in said passages, a terminal head overlying said strip, a pair of opposed depending legs carried by said head and straddling said insulating strip, said legs defining a passage which flares outwardly in opposite directions from its intermediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head on said insulating strip, and contact fingers carried by the legs and extending laterally inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends or said passage and adapted to enter opposite slits in the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head in one direction.

l. The structure defined in claim 3 in further combination with feet carried by said legs and extending inwardly from the opposite sides of 0pposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to frictionally grip the under surface of the insulating strip when the contact fingers are forced to enter the opposite slits of the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head.

5. A continuous outlet construction comprising a flexible resilient insulating strip having substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces, longitudinally extending laterally spaced passages within said strip, slits extending inwardly from opposite edges of said strip each to an opposite of said passages, electrical conductors in said passages, a longitudinally extending central rib depending from the lower surface of said strip and terminating in an enlarged base flange substantially parallel with the upper and lower surface of said strip, said base flange, rib and insulating strip defining a pair of opposed channels, a terminal head overlying the upper surface of said insulating strip, a pair of legs depending from said head and straddling said insulating strip, said legs defining a passage which flares outwardly in opposite directions from its intermediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head on said insulating strip, contact fingers carried by the legs and extending laterally inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to enter opposite slits in the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head in one direction, and feet carried by said legs and also extending laterally inwardly from the opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to make frictional engagement with the opposed channels when the contact fingers are forced to enter opposite slits of the insulating strip under rotation of the terminal head.

6. A terminal head adapted to cooperate with an electrical outlet, said outlet comprising laterally-spaced electrical conductors disposed within a rectangular insulating member, the opposite sides of said insulating member being provided with self-closing slits which project inwardly each to an adjacent one of said conductors, said terminal head having therethrough a passage adapted to receive the insulating member, said passage flaring outwardly in opposite directions iromits in termediate portion to permit limited rotation of the terminal head on said insulating member,

5 contact fingers carried by the head and extending inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of said passage and adapted to enter opposite slits in the insulating member under rotation of the terminal head in one direction, and feet carried by the head and extending inwardly from opposite sides of opposite flared ends of the passage and adapted to frictionally grip the lower face of said insulating member when the contact fingers are forced to enter the opposite slits of 10 2,275,533

5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,105,833 Feuer Jan. 18, 1938 2,261,986 Frank Nov. 11, 1941 Landy Mar. 10, 1942 2,310,024 Frank Feb. 2, 1943 

